With social media wiring all of our lives, companies are tagging on policy to cover them from risks. Cisco has a blog post stating their policy on posting on the internet through any media outlet. Their policy is specific in some instances and vague in others. Example being “Common sense is the best guide if you decide to post information in any way relating to Cisco,” while I’m sure Cisco employees are bright, not everyone is the sharpest and it’s even harder to pass judgment on what’s common sense. They do over their tails later in the posting by spelling out what is expected. Such as don’t reveal confidential information, don’t harass / insult, don’t act like you’re speaking on Cisco’s behalf, etc…

The tone of the policy seems stern but overall relaxed. It’s not restrictive, they don’t ask employees to deactivate their accounts. They do focus on don’t do’s instead of saying do this when using social media but their main focus as a company is not social media so I feel they’re just covering bases.

I believe their policy is effective. It does lay down the law however, after every point they don’t add a threat but there are at least 2 instances where they say the employee could be terminated or having posts deleted if they do not abide by the rules.

“When posting your point of view, you should neither claim nor imply you are speaking on Cisco’s behalf, unless you are authorized in writing by your manager to do so.” I think is a neat tid bit from their policy. They do respect their employees and opinions but ask they don’t take it upon themselves to act as the face of Cisco.

As for following the 10 points outlined by Lauby, Cisco does cover them fairly well. Asking employees not to be authentic in the idea they shouldn’t speak out of position and do have a mindful posting when using social media